George Zimmerman's Prison Release Is a Disaster in the Making

George Zimmerman got what he wanted. The man accused of second degree murder in the shooting of teenager Trayvon Martin is expected to be released from prison any time now. Sounds like good news for the Zimmerman camp? Guess again.

When Zimmerman is released on bond, he'll go right back to the fear and terror that he's been living with since the news of the shooting sparked a national outrage. The delay in his release, after all, isn't just about setting up an electronic monitor for the defendant in a murder trial.

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They'll also be laying down the law about no access to firearms, no drugs, no alcohol, and no harrassing Trayvon's family. But Florida officials also have to figure out how to keep Zimmerman safe from an angry public -- the type that's been so out of control that they've even started threatening his wife, Shellie, despite zero evidence that she did anything to Trayvon. That may mean taking him out of the State of Florida entirely. I don't envy them the massive undertaking in this age of tabloid stalkers and people with a cameraphone always at the ready. The whole process is just one nosy person's Internet post away from disaster.

I can understand people's anger. But it's a sad commentary on our society that people can't even give the justice system a chance. Vigilantism is tempting. But that doesn't make it right.

If anything, the hypocrisy of protesting what appears to be the shooting of an innocent teenager by someone who made a snap judgment by threatening his life only serves to make Zimmerman a slightly more sympathetic figure. I'm not saying it gives him a pass for what may or may not have happened down in Seminole County, but it certainly shows this guy is not living the life of champagne wishes and caviar dreams.

He's in his own kind of hell now, and getting out of prison is part and parcel of the whole deal. He'd probably be better off just staying put!